


To Carry the Burden

by Bay



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28655772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: Dedue wakes up from a nightmare, and Mercedes comforts him.
Relationships: Mercedes von Martritz/Dedue Molinaro
Kudos: 21
Collections: Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	To Carry the Burden

_Dedue found himself in his hometown again, seeing it being burned down._

_Tall trees that once stood almighty had their leaves being licked by the flames and the trunks blackened almost to charcoal. Countless shops and homes were being consumed by the fire and spreading fast like a disease. Many of the villagers ran in horror as soldiers from the Kingdom chased after them, their screams piercing through the crimson skies._

_Where were his mother and sister? Dedue forced himself to rush forward and pushed through the villagers. The smoke obscured his vision, and he coughed when he accidentally breathed through it. When an arrow whizzed past him, he glanced over his shoulder to see an older man's chest being struck by it. Dedue stood in horror for a second, and as another arrow missed him he was on the move again._

_Like the other houses, his house was burning too. He kicked the doors, backed up for a second when flames burst out and barged inside. He screamed "Mother!" and "Lelise!", his eyes watering from more smoke. Once Dedue stepped inside the kitchen, his heart sank._

_Both Mother and Lelise lay dead on the floor. There was a wound on Lelise’s back while Mother's throat was slashed and her lifeless eyes stared into the ceiling._

_"Mother!" Dedue fell on his knees and cradled her body, cold and lifeless. "No, no..." he sobbed, tears forming in his eyes. He mourned not only for the loss of his mother and sister but also for his people and hometown. All gone._

_"You couldn't save me."_

_He flinched upon hearing that and opened his eyes. His mother raised her head and she gazed at him with her pupilless eyes._

_Dedue jumped in surprise, his heart hammering against his chest. Mother stood up with an unnatural smile._

_"Mother?"_

_"You were too late."_

_A different voice, this time Lelise’s. Dedue spun around to see her also staring at him with pupilless eyes. The wound on her chest was still visible, and her dress was soaked in blood._

_A part of Dedue wondered if the gods were punishing him. Seeing them like this filled his chest with grief. He hung his head down in shame._

_"I'm sorry I was not able to save the both of you," he said in a cracked voice._

_His mother frowned at him. "You don't know how much you've disappointed us. You've failed as my son."_

_A painful lump formed in Dedue's throat. Hearing that was like a dagger being twisted through his stomach. He opened his mouth to apologize, but the words didn't come out._

_Mother and Lelise moved closer to him and chanted, "You could've saved us! You could've saved us!" Their voices grew louder than the roaring flames still going on._

_With clammy hands, Dedue backed away in jerky movements. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn’t let him and the fires made escaping harder. His mother and sister continued to corner him and he was left with them torturing him with their chants._

_"You could've saved us! You could've saved us!"_

xxx

Dedue woke up in a jolt and took deep breaths. He was inside his bedroom, safe and sound. Realizing that it was a nightmare, he sighed in relief and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.

Mercedes's side of the bed was empty, so it meant that she hadn't slept yet. He sat up to see her at the desk with two books in hand. Mercedes wanted the next reading assignment for the students at their school to be on _Adanna and the Sea God_ , so she had been writing down notes in preparation. Dedue had slept early while Mercedes insisted she finish with the lesson plan. He smiled, admiring how dedicated she was.

"You still working on that story?" he asked, which caused Mercedes to stop. A warm smile graced her lips.

"I'm almost done, actually! I just need to write down the notes where Adanna had won the Sea God's challenge and thus be able to have the sea next to her village restored. You couldn't sleep?"

Dedue shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "I have been woken up by my nightmares once more."

Mercedes gasped and gave him a sympathetic look. She rose out of her chair, moved to the bed with one hand on her hip and the other on her stomach, and sat down next to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Dedue felt bad bothering her as she was working but was still bothered by that nightmare. He dragged out a deep sigh.

"I dreamt that my mother and sister were haunting me from their graves. They were disappointed that I could not save them."

On the day the Kingdom soldiers had destroyed his hometown, Dedue was away to get some wood. By the time he returned, he found his sister lying on the floor in a pool of blood and his mother struggling with three men. His mother yelled for him to run, but Dedue refused and punched two of the men. Before Dedue could get to his mother, the last guy stabbed her with a dagger. That led Dedue to slam the soldier’s head on the wall and he rushed over to his mother. 

Dedue was frightened over his mother bleeding and he urgently said to hang in there. Her last words were, “I love you, Dedue.” Thinking back on that memory made Dedue’s chest hurt.

With a deep frown, Mercedes said, "Their deaths aren't your fault and it isn't fair that you're carrying that burden on your shoulders. I recall you told Annie's father to not feel the same way."

"Indeed I did." Dedue had told Gilbert—no, Gustave—that he needed to move on from his self-pity and that he and Dimitri needed him. When his Majesty had taken the throne, Gustave had stopped feeling sorry for himself and even began spending time with his family. "I have moved on from the Tragedy of Duscur, but these nightmares would not leave me alone."

“Your family may not be here anymore, but they’ll still live on through your memories of them. I’m sure they’ll be proud that you’re rebuilding Duscur’s land and culture right now.” Mercedes squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. "You'll be making the lives of your people better, and for our future child to be happy in."

Dedue gazed down at Mercedes's swollen stomach. She was about six moons into her pregnancy and so far there weren't any complications. When she had told him the news, he was so overjoyed that he picked her up and twirled her around. He wanted his upcoming child to experience Duscur's culture like the children at the school.

Shortly after they were married, Mercedes had suggested that the two open a school together as a war to revive Duscur's culture. Dedue at first wasn't sure if Dimitri would approve of him doing that instead of being His Majesty's shield. To his surprise, Dimitri was in favor of the school and had it open in the Kingdom capital's Duscur residential district. Dedue was ever grateful for His Majesty's generosity, and in return, he would help him in negotiations with the Duscur people in reclaiming their land back.

He and Mercedes had hired a few older Duscur people to teach the children history, writing, reading, and arithmetic. The children themselves were very eager learners, asking many questions to the teachers like how to say, “Can we go play?” in Duscur's language, or why the Moon God is stronger than the Sun God in many Duscur stories. Seeing their faces lit up gave Dedue hope for Duscur's future, but there was still a lot of work to do.

"We only made a dent right now, so we still have a long way to go."

"Maybe so, but all the hard work will pay off in the end," Mercedes said and kissed his forehead.

Dedue smiled fondly at her. "If you had not taken a great interest in Duscur, I probably wouldn’t have foregone with opening the school. I love you, my dear."

"I love you too, Dedue." A beaming expression crossed Mercedes's face, her cheeks glowing. 

He and Mercedes shared a slow and lingered kiss. Her lips were warm and soft, and he could still taste the chocolate cake they had earlier. They stopped when Mercedes gasped and giggled. 

"Oh my, I just felt our baby's kick. Do you want to feel it?"

Dedue's face fell and his stomach fluttered. Several months had already passed and he still couldn't believe that he was about to be a father. He nodded and placed his palm on Mercedes's stomach. 

His shoulders jumped and his heart almost skipped a beat when he felt the baby's kick. It was a small kick, but it was there. A single tear flowed on his cheek.

"And there's the second kick! Did you feel that?" Mercedes asked.

"I did," he said. His face was split into a grin, and more tears flowed. When Dedue let out a sniffle, Mercedes pulled him in for an embrace and he tucked his head under her chin. 

"There, there," she said in a soothing tone as she rubbed his back. Eventually, she let go of him. "It's getting very late, we should get some sleep."

"Yes, we should."

They lay back down on the bed together, Dedue wrapping his arms around Mercedes. She rested her head on his chest, her breathing very calming to hear. 

As they fell asleep, Dedue mused that the nightmares would still come to haunt him, but he had Mercedes by his side and was happy with how his life was going at the moment. There was no doubt that his mother and sister were smiling at him from above right now.

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt "midnight" over at the Felannie server. I thought about how a lot of people talk about Dimitri's nightmares but not much discussions over Dedue having PTSD too. Also Dad!Dedue gives me feelings. Hope you all enjoy!


End file.
